Joel Katz

Joel Katz is a Professor of Psychology and Canada Research Chair in Health Psychology at York University in Toronto. He is the Director of the Acute Pain Research Unit, Toronto General Hospital and a Professor in the Department of Anesthesia at the University of Toronto. Dr. Katz received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from McGill University. He has held fellowship and career awards from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He is a former Psychologist-in Chief of the University Health Network in Toronto. He is on the editorial board of several journals including PAIN and Pain Research and Management. Dr. Katz’s has published ~200 articles and book chapters and has been invited to present his work at professional and scientific meetings in North America, Europe and Asia.

Dr. Katz’s research program is aimed, broadly, at understanding the psychological, emotional, and biomedical factors involved in acute and chronic pain. He and his students and colleagues are exploring factors involved in the transition of acute, time-limited pain to chronic, pathological pain after surgery, accidents, and spinal cord injury. They are also evaluating preventive interventions designed to prevent acute post-operative pain and the transition to chronicity.